International Trade Commission Issues Preliminary Determination of Injury to
US Coated Paper Industry In Unfair Trade Case Against China and Indonesia
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Appleton Coated LLC, NewPage Corporation,
and Sappi Fine Paper North America - together with the United Steelworkers
(USW) -- applauded the US International Trade Commission (ITC) for its
preliminary determination and unanimous vote today to proceed with a full
investigation of coated paper imports from China and Indonesia.
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The companies and the USW filed unfair trade cases on Sept. 23 with the U.S.
Department of Commerce and the ITC alleging that certain coated paper from
China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized resulting in injury to the
domestic industry and its employees. The paper products covered by the
petitions include coated paper used in high-quality writing, printing, and
other graphic applications using sheet-fed presses with a GE brightness rating
of 80 or higher up and weighing to 340 grams per square meter.
"Today's vote is an important step in our quest to restore a level playing
field," said Mark Gardner, president and chief executive officer of Sappi Fine
Paper North America. "Fair competition requires all companies, both domestic
and international, to abide by the trade laws and to make investments in
sustainable practices."
The ITC's action follows the Oct. 13 decision by the Commerce Department to
open its investigation on the filings.
The petitions filed by the companies and the USW estimate that total imports
of covered coated paper skyrocketed by nearly 40 percent during the first six
months of 2009 compared with a similar period of time in 2008. During the
same period, shipments of paper covered by the domestic manufacturers'
petitions are estimated to have declined by approximately 38 percent. China
and Indonesia together almost doubled their share of the U.S. market over the
same period and now are believed to account for nearly 30 percent of the U.S.
market.
"We're prepared to compete with anyone on fair terms. But the dumping and
subsidy practices of China and Indonesia undermine our ability to produce and
jeopardize our employees and the communities in which they live," stated Rick
Willett, president and chief executive officer of NewPage Corporation. "The
advantages domestic producers enjoy from abundant, well-managed forest
resources, energy and raw materials, as well as lower transportation and
logistics costs aren't enough to compete against the unfair trade practices of
some of our Indonesian and Chinese competitors. They just aren't competing
fairly."
John Cappy, president and chief executive officer of Appleton Coated LLC,
said, "the ITC's vote today indicates that there is sufficient evidence to
support the allegations that the Chinese and Indonesian dumped and subsidized
products are injuring, or threatening to injure, the domestic industry and
that the case should go forward to the Department of Commerce. It's an
important step forward to helping to restore a competitive market in these
products. That's all we're seeking, and it's what our employees deserve.
The domestic paper industry cannot afford to continue to lose more market
share, more profits and more jobs to unfair competition."
Leo W. Gerard, USW international president, cited as evidence of injury, a
coated paper mill closure in Michigan earlier this year, on top of previous
job losses at idled, or closed plants and paper machines in Maine, Wisconsin
and other states. "We cannot stand by and let imports unfairly take away our
good jobs and shutdown factories," he declared. "Trade laws between nations
must be enforced with government fact finding and the power to defend jobs and
industries with strong tariff penalties for import violations."
Since the trade cases were filed, 22 members of Congress from eight paper
manufacturing states have sent letters to the ITC and, or the Commerce
Department, raising their voices in support of the domestic coated paper
industry and its workforce.
The petitions allege, among other things, that various subsidies are being
provided to Chinese paper producers, including low interest loans, tax
subsidies, input subsidies, land use programs, grants and export tax
subsidies. Similarly, the petitions allege that Indonesian paper companies
are benefiting from timber provided from government-owned land at below-market
prices, a ban on log exports, government loans, debt forgiveness, and tax
incentives for certain encouraged businesses.
The next steps following today's affirmative vote by the ITC comes in December
when the Commerce Department is expected to issue preliminary determinations
in the countervailing duty case, and in March 2010 with respect to the
antidumping duty case. These trade cases are expected to take about a year to
complete.
The domestic industry has experienced substantial capacity reductions and
under-utilization resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. The petitions
show that unfairly traded imports from China and Indonesia are a significant
contributor to that underutilization of capacity and resultant job loss.
The three companies employ about 6,000 production workers represented by the
USW at 20 paper mills operating in seven states.
About Appleton Coated
Appleton Coated, headquartered in Kimberly, Wisconsin, provides focused market
leadership in premium coated and specialty paper products. The Appleton Coated
product portfolio includes a range of commercial printing and book publishing
papers marketed under the Utopia brand as well as specialty and private label
products. Known for their performance, aesthetics, and environmental
attributes, Appleton Coated manufactures their products in a state-of-the-art
facility in Combined Locks, Wisconsin, hosting the newest paper machine in
North America. For more information please visit our website at
www.appletoncoated.com/.
About NewPage Corporation
Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated
paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with $4.4
billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2008. The company's
product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated
freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers.
These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing,
magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging
applications and direct mail advertising.
NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills have a total annual production
capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately
3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated
paper and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper. . For more
information: www.NewPageCorp.com/.
About Sappi Fine Paper North America
Sappi Fine Paper North America (SFPNA) is a leading North American producer of
coated fine paper used in premium magazines, catalogues, books and high-end
print advertising. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Sappi Fine Paper
North America is known for innovation and quality. Its brand names, including
McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are some of the industry's most widely
recognized and specified. SFPNA is a division of Sappi Limited (NYSE, JSE), a
global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with manufacturing
operations on four continents in 10 countries, sales offices in 50 countries,
and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi
Fine Paper North America at: www.sappi.com/na/. For the media kit and past
press releases, visit the "About Us" section of the Web site.
About the United Steelworkers
The United Steelworkers (USW) is a North American union headquartered in
Pittsburgh that negotiates labor agreements representing 850,000 active
workers employed in metals, mining, pulp, paper, timber, rubber, chemicals,
glass, auto supply, energy producing industries, plus the service and
professional sectors to include healthcare, municipalities and
pharmaceuticals. . For more information: www.usw.org/.
SOURCE United Steelworkers
Ann Whalen, Appleton Coated LLC, +1-920-968-3809, awhalen@appletoncoated.com,
or Shawn Hall, NewPage Corporation, +1-937-242-9373,
shawn.hall@newpagecorp.com, or Amy Olson, Sappi Fine Paper North America,
+1-617-320-1646, amy.olson@sappi.com, or Gary Hubbard, United Steelworkers
(USW), +1-202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org
